VOL. XXVII. No. 1-2. i 
WHOLE No. 1208. f 
NEW YORK, AND ROCHESTER, N, Y„ MARCH 22, 1873 
\ I'RIOE SIX CENTS* 
I 82.50 PER YEAR. 
[Entered according to Act of Congress, la the year 1373, by D. D. T. Moore, in the office of the Librarian of Congress, at Washington.] 
Cheviots of the present day. Nevertheless, 
from their adaptation to tire soil and climate, 
they appear to have spread over a great part 
of the elevated lands in the South of Scotland 
long before an attempt was made to improve 
them. The earliest recorded attempt was 
about a hundred years ago, and waseminently 
successful. The merit of this is universally 
accorded to Mr. Robson of Belford, although 
Choviot breeders of tin- present day differ 
materially regarding the cross lie made ubg 
ol’. We have it from Mr. Robson Scott— a 
grandson of Mr. Robson— that, he traveled 
over the greater part, of England for the 
purpose of seeing various breeds of sheep in 
different districts, with the view of selecting 
ranis to cross his flock of Cheviots. The 
sheep he considered most suitable were of a 
breed then existing in Lincolnshire, of which 
he purchased several rams to put to selected 
ewes. The cross answered admirably, greatly 
improving the flock in every respect, without 
materially lessening its hardy character. 
Mr. Robson then occupied several high and 
stormy farms on the border, and the crossed 
breed throve well upon them. Twenty years 
afterwards he made a second visit to Lincoln¬ 
shire to obtain another infusion of the same 
bl'Xid, but found the breed had become so 
much larger and less hardy that he declined 
to venture on them The theory of Mr. 
Arrciaso.v of Lynhope, a high authority in 
Cheviots, as well as other eminent breeders, 
is that the breed Mr. Robson imported were 
Balfiewell’s Leieesters, with which he crossed 
a few select Cheviot ewes, and that tho off¬ 
spring of this cross were sent to tho hills to 
Cover Ids extensive flocks. The great resem¬ 
blance between the two breeds raises a strong 
presumption, in favor of this hypothesis, but, 
OR the other hand, the tenderness of the 
Leieesters makes it very improbable that 
such a cross could stand the winters of so 
stormy a climate. We have besides, in later 
times, been cognizant of instances where a 
slight dash of the Leicester blood was intro¬ 
duced, and proved detrimental to the hardi¬ 
hood of the breed, and experimenters were 
generally fain to retrace their steps. Of the 
two assertions, therefore, wo ineliUe to that 
of Mr. Robson Scott, more especially as it 
is not merely derived from tradition, but, as 
ho solemnly affirms, from an oral statement 
he had from his grandfather. Under any 
circumstances Mr Robson stands confessed 
the great improver of the breed, although, 
like Bajcewet.i. in Leicester*, the means he 
used are involved in some obscurity, This 
early cross gave a correctness of form and 
symmetry that has never yet been surpassed; 
greater bone has no doubt, been introduced 
in the present day, but in the opinion of 
many Cheviot breeders to an unprofitable 
extent, as greater bone often implies reduced 
numbers. 
Mr, Robson’s flock thus proved the nucleus 
from which Cheviot breeders drew their sup¬ 
ply of rams for many years. His mode of 
selling is said to have been somewhat unique. 
CHEVIOT SHEEP 
The Cheviots—a range of hills in the bor¬ 
der counties ol‘ England and Scotland—were 
the early home of the Cheviot sheep, whence 
they derived their name, and to which they 
were exclusively con lined for many genera¬ 
tions. They seem to have been a native breed, 
although a legend still gains credence, espe¬ 
cially among shepherds, that tholirst of them 
were imported into the country by the Spanish 
Armada, haring swum to land from some of 
the shipwrecked vessels of that ill-fated ex¬ 
pedition that were drifted on the Western 
Isles. They are generally described as small 
sheep, very light in bone and wool, with 
brownish heads and legs, and hardy constitu¬ 
tion ; their scraggy frames bearing very lit¬ 
tle resemblance to the well-proportioned 
